Mantras

Q: Guruji, why is a mantra given as a whisper; so secretly? Does the mantra loses its power if given in open?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know what psychology says, if there is anything in your mind that is bothering you, speak it out. Bring it to the field of expression. Then you are free of it.

We want the mantra to stay inside. We don’t want it to be in the field of expression. We want that mantra to remain in the mind and take the mind deeper. So for your mind to go deeper, you need to have a mantra which is not in the field of expression; which is secret. That is why it is given secretly. A secret stays deeper in your heart, deep in your consciousness.

So mantra is a vehicle for the mind to dwell deeper into the consciousness. That is why it needs to be given secretly. The mantra given to me may be a very open (common) mantra, but my mantra (the one given to me), I keep it a secret so that I can go deeper into meditation.

This is the idea from ancient times. It is so scientific. There are mahamantras that everybody can chant loudly. But a personal mantra is what one has to keep secret. That is what we give you in the meditation course, i.e., the Sahaj Mantra. You keep it to yourself and don’t bring it into the field of expression. But other mantras like ‘Om Namah Shivay’, and ‘Om’, these can be chanted loudly. They enhance the vibrations.

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